I Didn't Need to Hear That v2
by dnapolymerase314
Summary: Aphrodite meddles around and suddenly Percy and Annabeth can hear each other's thoughts. But there's an unknown force that has chosen Annabeth as its target. Can Annabeth defeat this monster all while hoping her best friend's free access to her mind doesn't reveal her feelings for him? ...T
1. Intro

**A/N: Think of this as the Alpha Sapphire 3DS to the Sapphire GBA. Same story, but better. Enjoy! Please review.**

 _Thunk._ I frowned. So close to the bulls-eye yet not close enough. I notched another arrow and shot again. _Thunk._ Missed again. I sighed and lowered the bow that I'd been holding for the good part of the hour. After the whole "Saving Olympus' ass" incident I'd started working on being better at wielding more weapons though Athena kids firmly believed in brain over brawn. Because you know what? Thoughts couldn't cut through sticky web. Ideas couldn't save you when a monster on a disgusting unknown number of legs slowly crawled towards you. I shuddered as the visuals from my nightmares flooded my mind. Everything was horrible, the stench of those monsters, the damp, underground cavern that was the backdrop of every dream, the feeling of helplessness as I was stuck in the center of a giant web. Though I wanted to tell myself it wasn't real, that when a week passed and I'd had nothing but pleasant dreams of a somewhat cute but also very irritating green eyed boy, I'd sink into sleep and be dragged back to the monster's web. I wanted to say it was her, _Arachne_ , but somehow I knew it wasn't. It was something worse. I shuddered and picked up my bow again. _Thunk._ I smiled grimly. Bulls-eye.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Enjoy! Please review**

Another day, when I woke up a second before my alarm clock rang. 6:59. I reached out and turned it off before the entire cabin woke up and gave me nasty looks before snuggling back into their bunks. The nightmares had really messed with my precise waking up schedule and my siblings were not happy about being ripped out of their pleasant dreams with cute, irritating green-eyed boys. I hopped out of bed and took a quick shower. I looked into the mirror to see tired gray eyes and killer dark circles. Maybe I would stop by Aphrodite's cabin today because I looked like trash. My hair normally full and blond laid limply and...was it shedding? I couldn't help but feel like my hair was falling out. But I could never find any blond strands on my pillow or in the bathroom.

Not wanting to looked at my exhausted appearance anymore, I tucked my hair into a small, sad ponytail, and threw on a white t-shirt and some jeans shorts. I grabbed my favorite pair of Nikes. Interestingly the idea of Nike shoes was hotly debated among the gods. The elder (read: whiny and traditional) gods like Zeus and Hades couldn't believe that mortals would wear the name of a god on their feet while younger gods like Apollo and Aphrodite were jealous that their names hadn't been chosen instead. The real Nike simply shrugged and mentioned something about an offshore account that filled every time a purchase was made.

I strolled across camp to the Poseidon cabin and judging by its silence, its lone resident was still deeply asleep. I rolled my eyes and kicked open the door. I immediately recoiled at the smell. Teenage boy smell was not tolerated in the Athena cabin, I'd seen to that. In the center of this filthy cabin, with clothes and weapons strewn around, with random artifacts collected from the _Greek Gods_ thrown about like they were worth nothing, was a large bed that was currently home to none other than Perseus Jackson, savior of Olympus. Who was currently drooling, happily sleeping, and hugging a pillow. I felt a mild twinge of jealousy for that pillow and then shook it off. We had things to do. I approached carefully remembering the last time I had set off one of Percy's booby traps and had ended up drenched with water from seemingly invisible water balloons. I glanced over him and my gaze softened. Seeing a demigod still was nearly impossible unless they were sleeping and so I took a moment to appreciate him. His black hair was getting a little longer but oddly enough I found myself liking it and I took a minute to appraise his body. I remember the skinny lanky boy that ended up here years ago but the toll of saving Olympus several times had…well okay I wouldn't really call it a toll because Percy looked pretty damn good. He was tan and lean and had shot up a few inches that I was still thrown off by looking up at him. Though his body had scars from old battles passed it only emphasized his strength and reminded me of the fights we'd been in and…I blushed hard and looked away. This was my friend and looking at him the way the other girls looked at him made me feel embarrassed.

I looked around the room until my eyes settled on an object on his table next to his bed. My eyes hardened. It was a hairclip with a small flower on the end, it was cute and pretty, and it most certainly did not belong to me. For weeks I'd been seeing these little girly objects come and go. First it was a pair of purple glasses, then it was a tube of pink shimmery lip gloss, and once I had found a long strand of very much not blond, very brown hair. I put the clues together and knew that girl from Demeter was becoming close to Percy. Katie Gardner's younger sister Jen. I hated her. Well, I hated her because she was squeezing me out from my spot as Percy's best friend. Other than that she was nothing but a sweet, tree hugging delight. Ugh. She had been found and brought to camp really recently and when I first heard about her I didn't give a second thought. But then she was all like "OMG Percy!" and I was all like "OMG I hate you!" and she's been a delightful, Demeter thorn in my side ever since.

Enough. Time to wake up this boy and get on with my day. Preferably with him in it. I poked him. No response. Poke poke poke. He grumbled and rolled over, taking the pillow with him. My poking intensified. Pokepokepoke _pokepoke_ _ **pokepokepokepoke.**_

"Okay stop!" he whined. I grinned.

"Wake up, sleepy head." I sang, "We have things to do, paperwork to file, camp counselor garbage to fulfill."

"Why do I even have to do that?" he complained, "I don't have any siblings anyway."

"You can still fill out paperwork for the sparring arena. Or for keeping stock of the Capture the flag games." Really, if there was one hidden fact about the gods and goddesses, it was that paperwork and bureaucracy were a cornerstone of Western tradition.

Percy sighed and sat up. He ran a hand through his glorious – I mean _ugly and dirty looking_ – hair and looked at the clock.

"It's only 7:30." He said irritably, "The meeting is at 9."

Okay so maybe I had my motives for waking him up early. Namely I noticed that weird Demeter girl seemed positively nocturnal and never woke before 10 or went to sleep before midnight. Does that make me a creeper? Maybe. I don't know. I knew she was definitely not awake and I didn't mind having Percy all to myself.

He stood up and stretched lazily, his body twisting as his arms flexed. I hungrily took the sight in wondering if maybe Aphrodite did like me. Then I felt mildly insulted that this boy with Little Mermaid boxers on didn't seem to give a care that I was standing right there. **(A/N: This little clip inspired by Six of Crows to anyone who has read it! It's my new favorite book).**

"We can grab breakfast?" I suggested knowing Percy was a basic boy and food was an easy lure. He grinned happily down at me and I felt like I was dowsed in warmth. His bright green eyes shown and it was an easy lure for me. I stared back, mouth slightly open forgetting what I was about to say.

I didn't have a chance to say anything because at that moment the door banged open and I was hit with a gooey blob of _something._ I shuddered back suddenly wondering if this was one of my pleasant green eyed boy dreams that was being invaded by my nightmare.

"What the heck?" Percy said looking confused before he was hit with a blob too.

"I - " before I could answer another blob flew by and I threw myself to the side. I was lucky. I hit one of Percy's booby traps and an invisible slid dropped from the roof throwing out a waterfall into the doorway. The water flooded out and left an unknown figure in the doorway. By then Percy had grabbed _Riptide_ and was slowly approaching the creature while I was immobilized by fear. This was happening, this was real, the monster from my mind had crawled into real life and was here to take him and probably to kill me.

"Connor?" Percy asked hesitantly. The two headed creature moved. Well it was actually two Stoll brothers piled on top of each other.

"Aw man Percy that was totally awesome!" came the voice of Connor Stoll.

"Yeah dude! A waterfall? We never would have guessed." Travis exclaimed.

Percy relaxed for a moment and then looked pissed.

"What the hell were you doing and what are these things?" he asked referring to the sticky blob on his broad chest. Not broad. Very small. Not manly at all. A part of my mind wondered how I could even consider Percy's body while being seemingly attacked by the semblance of a nightmare that had been plaguing me for weeks. I had a problem. Definitely a big problem.

"Well…", Connor looked sheepish, "It was a bet with Demeter's cabin. If we caught Annabeth they would do our paperwork." Ahh, bureaucracy at its finest.

"We saw Annabeth come in here - "

"- so we just followed - "

"- because we hate paperwork - "

"- and we thought you'd still be asleep - "

"- but that waterfall was epic and I guess better luck next time." Travis finished.

"And the sticky things?" Percy tried to pull it off but it seemed stuck.

"Not sure. That new girl from Demeter gave us the recipe and we just followed it. I think she would know how to get it off." Connor said, smiling devilishly.

Now mention of her seemed to burn my fear and turn it into rage.

"What the hell does she want?" I growled making the Stolls jump.

"Whoa Annabeth, what happened to you? You look awful." Connor blurted. Travis punched his shoulder and he winced.

I ignored the slight, "Why would a girl from Demeter give you the recipe to capture me if she also promised that if you succeeded her cabin would do your cabin's paperwork?"

"Uhh…" Travis trailed off apparently never have considered the logic. I rolled my eyes. There was a reason I was a child of Athena.

"Ohmygod!" a tearful gasp came from behind the Stolls, "Percy are you okay?"

5 drachmas to who that was.

A sad, tiny, _ugly and mean_ brunette pushed past the Stolls and ran into the room.

"I'm fine too." I snapped apparently going unheard.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Percy said looking at her. I turned to look at them, my mood turning sour filing the room with ice. The Stolls looked at me nervously and silently ran away. Good. I don't need them kidnapping me anyways.

The girl was spreading something on Percy's chest, her hands laying on his heart a little longer than necessary. The blob fell on the ground and slowly disintegrated into nothing. So there was an antidote.

"Thank you." He said as he smiled that warm smile at her. But something seemed a little off about his eyes. I wasn't sure if it was jealousy (alright, let's be real I was jealous as hell) clouding my thoughts but where his eyes had been alive, now they looked flat.

She smiled back up at him and said, "I'm glad you are alright. When I saw her come here I didn't think you would be caught too." Before he had a chance to speak I cleared my throat. They both looked at me.

"I would like to get deblobbed too." I announced.

"Of course." She said smiling brightly at me. I didn't trust her. She approached me very slowly probably because I still had a hand on my dagger, tense. She pulled out a small vial and dropped a few drops on the blob. It also fell to the floor and disintegrated.

"I'd be interested to know the formula of that." I said nodding at the bottle.

She giggled. The audacity. She actually giggled at me.

"It's a seeee-cret!" she said in a singsong voice. She turned back to Percy, "I'll see you later!" and she flounced out the door. Ugh.

"So, breakfast?" Percy asked like nothing had happened. He looked a bit dazed like he wasn't sure what had just happened. To be fair I wasn't sure either.

I frowned.

"Okay."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Please review and let me know how you feel about the course of the story especially in light of the original. Some aspects will remain the same but others have obviously changed. I can tell my writing style has changed and will turn off some readers from the original but I would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts. Also, reviews completely motivate me :)**

Percy pulled on some clean jeans and dark green shirt. His mom seemed to think it was cute to send him green, blue, and any kind of sea plain colored shirts to "bring out his eyes". I knew there was a reason I liked Mrs. Jackson.

We were heading out to breakfast when I decided to carefully broach the topic of the vile brown haired harpy. I mean girl. Whatever.

"That was kind of weird, right? Who is that girl anyway?" I asked Percy as we headed to the Dining Pavilion. For reasons still unknown, Percy couldn't sit at the Athena table without being thrown off but I could sit at the Poseidon table easily. Just me though, others had tried and failed. I took it as a sign that Poseidon lowkey liked me. I hope.

"She's pretty." He said dreamily, "I've never witnessed such beauty in a demigod." Well ouch. I was pretty _pretty_ myself. It was somewhat out of character that he said that though because the girl looked so much like the other brunettes in Demeter and he'd never commented on them before. Well to be fair, he'd never really commented on the looks of any girl before. I angrily stabbed a strawberry before catching a glimpse of myself in a goblet. If anything, the bags of my eyes had gotten darker and deeper in the course of just a few hours. Screw it, I was going to visit the Aphrodite cabin today. I would put aside my _brains are everything_ pride away just for a few hours even if it was just for doing stupid paperwork.

"It's strange how she stayed under the radar for so many years though." I said thinking hard, "She looks like she's 16 or 17."

"Her dad was really cool about her being a demigod." Percy said immediately with a familiarity about her life that had me seething inside, "She begged him to let her come here after what happened at Olympus. She said she wanted to get more in touch with her demigod roots." Yeaaah sure. That's what she wanted to get in touch with. Not the boy sitting right in front of me.

We ate silently, me caught up in murderous and violent thoughts while Percy seemed lovestruck and happy. And yet, I couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with his mood. Like it was false and unreal. But then again I had just been shoved aside for some random girl so…not fun.

I finished eating and turned to him, "I'll see you at the meeting."

He smiled, "Okay see you later." That's it? No inquiries about where I was going or what I was doing? I inspected his eyes. They were still flat. Something was definitely wrong with him and I suspected that girl had something to do with it. But what could it be? Why had she been awake so early too? But I was also pissed off and petty. I decided the mystery would be worth looking into after I had some work done on my face.

"See you around." I said shortly. As I turned away he caught my wrist. I looked back at him and he stared deeply into my eyes before he shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut. He put his head in his hands like he had the worst headache in the world before straightening back up. He looked around confusedly like he wasn't sure how he had gotten to the Dining Pavilion.

"Where are you going?" he asked. I looked into his eyes. They shown again with Percy-ness.

"Um…" I sat back down. Something was definitely wrong here.

I decided to ask him again, "This morning was strange right?" Blank stare in response.

"That new girl from Demeter is a little weird right?" I asked.

"There's a new girl from Demeter?" he asked, "I haven't met her yet."

"Her name is Jen." I said slowly like I was speaking to a toddler, "She appears to be a friend of yours." He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I think I would remember if I had a friend named Jen from Demeter, Annabeth." He said, sounding annoyed.

"Yeah sure…" I said backing away, "I've got to go now." I was feeling pretty irritated myself between this whole nightmare-weird girl from Demeter-Percy apparently not remembering or deciding to play jokes on me thing. This seemed like a future me problem and I'd deal with it later.

"Where are you going?" he repeated.

"Aphrodite cabin." I snapped, "I look like crap." I spun around before I could see his reaction. I started fast walking in that direction and felt a presence behind me. Stupid long boy legs.

"You look fine to me." He said. I warmed a little as he easily kept up with my pace, "Besides we need to strategize for the competition." My flame extinguished. He was talking about the Cross Country Competition, a game created by the Gods to promote unity among the cabins. You paired up with a partner not from your cabin and were flung into puzzles, mazes, and obstacles until you made it to California. The competition happened only every 5 years and you could only play once because I'd heard the Gods were really lazy about changing the obstacles and didn't want campers re-entering. Why they put effort into enchanting you so you couldn't tell anyone about it instead of just changing the game was beyond me. Classic bureaucracy. Winning it was really prestigious and well…I liked winning.

"We can strategize later." I snarled, "I'll see you later." He kept on my heels. I don't know why I was so irrationally angry but I didn't want him to see me in this state of weakness. He ignored me.

"Maybe there clues in the Aphrodite cabin." He said thoughtfully, "It's one of the hardest cabins to get into secretly anyways." Maybe it's because Percy's fanbase was set out of the Aphrodite cabin and they watched him like a hawk. I didn't tell him that though. Fanning the egos of men was an activity I decisively did _not_ participate in.

"Yeah, whatever." I grumbled as we approached their beautiful cabin. It looked like the Barbie home come alive with and there wasn't a single thing out of place. I walked up to the door and banged on it. No answer. I banged again.

"Have some patience." Percy admonished and I rolled my eyes at him.

I was about two seconds from breaking down the door when it opened and a small girl looked up at me, scared. It was Lacy and I was glad it was her who opened the door and not her annoying sister, Drew.

"Hi…Annabeth." She asked confusedly like she had never seen me before. She had reason to be confused. I had never shown up like this before.

"Can I come in?" I asked politely trying to not take out the frustrations of the morning on her.

"Yeah sure…" she replied, "Mother, Percabeth is here!" What?

"Percabeth?" Percy asked stupidly, like the stupid boy he was, "What's that?"

My cheeks flamed but I stepped through the doorway. Why was Aphrodite here? The gods usually didn't just stop in to visit their kids, at least my mom didn't. I heard footsteps to reveal the most beautiful woman in the entire world step out in front of me. She had deep dark brunette hair (ugh wish I was brunette so people would stop thinking I was a dumb blond), light friendly brown eyes (another feature I wished I had because people think my eyes are scary), and was light and feminine. Basically Aphrodite was everything that I was not. I suspected she could feel my jealousy radiating off in waves especially because Percy was looking at her with gooey eyes.

"What color is my hair?" she asked in a beautiful husky voice.

"Blond." Percy answered confidently. Aphrodite gave me a wink. I glared at Percy wondering if all those years of fighting had finally dulled his last brain cell. Whatever.

"Why are you here, Annabeth, daughter of Athena? You've never graced us with your presence before." She asked airily.

"Um. Dark circles." I said feeling ashamed and praying that my mother wasn't watching me at this moment.

"Is that all?" she asked looking deep into my eyes, "Nothing else you desire?"

"I'd like to look more presentable." I said carefully wondering what the hell kind of answer she wanted out of me, "I haven't been sleeping right."

"You never mentioned that to me!" Percy exclaimed breaking me out of Aphrodite's trance. She pouted.

"I, uh…I don't know. I assumed it would go away." I said feeling bad. Then I remembered all the crap Percy was putting me through between that girl from Demeter and not remembering what he had done, "It's not like you've been hanging out with me or noticing anything at all!"

"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed, "We hang out all the time!"

"No we don't! You're always with Jen!" I yelled back.

"Who is Jen? You keep talking about her and I have no idea who that is!" Lacy looked at Percy like he was crazy. I knew _Jen_ hung out with almost all the campers because she was just a friendly, lovely _wildflower_ who was _"easy to get along with"_ blah blah blah.

I was about to open my mouth for a sharp retort when Aphrodite spoke, "Children please."

We both looked at her angrily.

"There is no need for disagreements like this." She said smoothly, "Allow me to help you achieve what you desire."

"What, like knowing who this not real girl is?" Percy asked angrily. She giggled.

"What is your deepest desire Perseus?" she asked at him, smiling mischievously.

"Um…world peace?" he offered up. Lacy rolled her eyes.

"It's so obvious." Lacy said, "How can you be so thick?"

"What?" Percy asked, "What is going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know." I muttered angrily.

Aphrodite smiled devilishly, "Annabeth, surely you know what _your_ deepest desire is." Her eyes flicked to Percy and back to me watching my expression change. I did not let it change though my insides were churning.

"My deepest desire is…" I said as Percy and Lacy hung on to every word, "to get my dark circles concealed so I can get the hell out of here."

Lacy and Aphrodite simultaneously sighed with disappointment.

"It looks like words are not enough. At least not just your words, stubborn daughter of Athena." Aphrodite murmured, "It seems like you need a little…push." I didn't like the sound of that.

"I - " She put out a hand to stop me, then pulled out a small perfume bottle.

She grinned, "I remember the last time I had to resort to this. It's just so much fun!"

"What? - " She spritzed and the world went dark.

############################################

 _What is going on. Why am I here._

I groaned and sat up. I was laying on the floor of the Aphrodite cabin trying to figure out what was going on.

 _Aphrodite is so beautiful. Her blond hair is beautiful. Her gray eyes are beautiful._ What? I looked around to see the very much brown haired, brown eyed Aphrodite looking at me.

"Your hair is brown." I said stupidly.

"Is it?" she said, raising an eyebrow, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Percy sat up. _Annabeth looks pissed._ Hell yeah, I do.

Wait. Who said that?

 _Man I really hope she's not going to choose today to finally finish me off she's just been so mad lately._

"Who has been so mad lately?" I asked loudly. Percy looked so lost and confused.

"I don't look lost." He snapped.

"I didn't say that." I retorted.

"Yes you did!" he said furiously, his green eyes flashing.

A giggle interrupted our speech.

"Oh silly me." Aphrodite tittered, "I tried to make you get more in touch with each other's thoughts and feelings but I may have over did it just a little."

 _What is she talking about what is going on what –_

"Percy! Stop talking so loud!" I yelled covering my ears.

"I'm not even talking!" he said, "I'm just thinking."

And then it hit me. **Percy?**

 _Yes?_

I glared up and Aphrodite only to see that she had disappeared leaving just a smirking Lacy.

 **I think we can hear each other's thoughts.**

 _Well, crap._

 **A/N: Reviews are useful, motivating, and much appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: a few things to get in order:**

 **One. I made a tumblr! .com. Follow me? if you do, send me a message! I'll follow you back :)**

 **Two. A question by** mang0fruitblast **alerted me to the fact that I didn't clarify when this "exactly" takes place. It's after The Last Olympian before we even got into this whole Heroes of Olympus thing. Mostly because I've only read the first 3 HOO books and that was like three billion years ago. I'll read them this winter break.**

 **Three. Please review! I feel really rusty with writing fanfiction, getting the voices of the characters, and understanding the expectations of my audience. Constructive criticism is really helpful!**

 **Four. I know Percy's thoughts seem really basic when he isn't directly speaking/speaking via thought to Annabeth but if you think about it, when you think you don't think like you're a character in a book. You see things, you process ideas, and I personally feel like the thoughts that just slip out wouldn't be as complicated as someone speaking.**

 **Five. Percabeth fuzziness basically.**

 **Okay…onward!:**

Normal/ _italicized_ text is Annabeth's thoughts, **bold are Percy's.**

Holy shit, holy shit, holy _shit_ Percy could hear my thoughts and he was going to find out that – I MEAN NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT THING AT ALL – hell no oh my gods what was I supposed to do this was like the worst day of my life IS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE –

"Annabeth! Stop thinking so loud!" Percy groaned, clenching his eyes shut, "You have too many thoughts." **Ow.**

I glared at him wondering how he could be so thick. **Habit?**

I wheeled around and glowered at Lacy.

"You. Explain. Now." I snarled. **Glad she's not looking at me.** I shot a nasty look at Percy who shrugged sheepishly.

She grinned mischievously looking awfully like her mother and said, "There's really nothing I can do to help you." Yeah and there isn't really anything anyone can do to help you when I drag your body into the forest at night and –

 **Annabeth. Chill. Whoa. Drew. Nice.**

I looked up to see one of my least favorite campers enter the room. Ugh, she _was_ pretty I GUESS if you're into _that._ **Her lips are so shiny. Annabeth's lips aren't as shiny but I think I prefer –**

"How do I stop hearing his thoughts?" I asked Lacy sharply cutting off Percy's apparent internal dilemma at my lack of lip gloss.

"I can't tell you. Otherwise it won't work!" she replied gleefully.

"What's going on?" Drew asked, batting an eye at Percy. **She never looked at me** _ **before**_ **I saved Olympus.** Well at least someone was aware.

"Mom spritzed them." Lacy explained knowingly.

"Ohmygods." Drew pouted, looking upset, "She said she would let _me_ pick."

"Pick what?" I snapped, "Torturing innocent demigods who just came here for some concealer!?"

Drew turned at me and appraised my appearance. I'd like to say I stood my ground but she was pretty good looking and done up and I…well I wasn't here because I had a flawless face on. **Annabeth, seriously chill. You look fine. Let's get out of here. Also Drew is scary.**

I had to stifle a laugh at that. It was Drew's turn to look confused. Percy placed a hand on my shoulder [his hands were so nice and stron – DIGUSTING AND GROSS AND HAD HE EVER HEARD OF PURELL] and wheeled me around.

"I think we're good here." He said cheerfully, "Time to strategize. Good luck for the competition!" and proceeded to shove me out the door.

 _ **-by the sparring arena-**_

"Okay so, _obviously_ I've got the swordsmanship down so I don't understand why we're here." Percy whined, "I fight, you think, it's all good. We should be working on some covert strategies to defeat the enemy."

"Maybe if _I_ fought and _you_ thought, it'd throw off the enemy." I replied, "Now again!" I positioned myself to spar. So, yes, maybe I wasn't the _best_ swordswoman in the world but those dreams convinced me that I needed to be better and stronger.

Percy cocked his head to the side.

"Annabeth. What are your dreams about?" he asked, looking concerned, "You can tell me anything ya know."

"It's nothing." I shrugged, though the haunting images instantly flooded my mind, "They don't mean anything."

Percy shuddered, "I can feel your fear and I just saw what you dream about." I blushed realizing that I needed to be more careful least he see those…ahem, other dreams that were – NOT THINKING ABOUT IT.

The concern in his brow deepened, "What's wrong? Are you having even worse nightmares?" My eyes widened and I decided to come clean about my nightmares in case my more pleasant dreams drifted through.

"I…don't know. I get them about once a week and it's always the same. I'm sitting on the beach watching the sunset with – I mean by myself. Then my vision goes black – I think someone knocks me out? – and I wake up in a cave…stuck in the middle of a giant web." I described the setting and Percy looked like he was seeing a movie. Well, I guess he was. I'd had the dream enough times that it was vividly playing in my mind.

"And then I hear something crawling towards me. It…it sounds like it has more than two legs. I can smell the stench of dead meat on its breath and it always feels like it's touching me but when I look around I'm just stuck in the web. And it's always laughing at me…hissing at me…taunting me. And I don't know what it wants, I can never understand what it's saying. But every time I have this nightmare it gets just a little bit closer." I shut my eyes hard, feeling goosebumps all over my body and realized I had broken into cold sweats.

"Is it Arachne?" Percy asked, "Web. You're a child of Athena. Do you think she wants something from you?"

I looked him straight in the eye, "I wish it was Arachne. I think this is something worse and I don't know what it is or what it wants from me. None of my siblings seem to be plagued by nightmares, unless you count Malcolm waking up screaming because he didn't get into MIT."

Percy cracked a smile at that.

"I don't know what it is but we'll find out and defeat it." Percy said, sounding the like the hero of Olympus that he was, "I promise."

I looked at him gratefully feeling like I was seeing my best friend for the first time in weeks. **I could say the same thing back.**

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Percy looked a little uncomfortable. **I…she's been so mad…should I explain…**

"You can tell me." I prompted, "Unless you want me to comb through your thoughts and get the wrong impression."

He blanched, "No, no that is the last thing I want. Look Annabeth, it's not just me, even your siblings have been asking me if there's something wrong with you. Malcolm even threated me one day asking me if I'd broken your heart or some stupid shit like that." Ha…ha…can't even imagine…ha…

"Everyone's really concerned about you. You just look so drained and exhausted all the time. You've been kind of mad and you snap at everyone and no one knows what's wrong."

I was silent, feeling ashamed.

 **Please say something.**

 _For how long?_ Unable to get the words out of my mouth.

 **How long what?**

 _How long have I been acting like this?_

 **The last few weeks. But now you describe these nightmares and it seems to make more sense.**

 _To be fair, you've also been missing from my life these last few weeks. You're always with that girl. Jen._

"Who is Jen?" Percy asked, "I literally have no clue who she is."

I gave him a look and examined the feelings come off of him. Hunger. Complete confusion. And something else I couldn't identify. He wasn't lying. He actually seemed like he didn't know her.

"It's that girl from Demeter who leaves crap in your cabin." I said, a little more harshly than expected, "This is what she looks like." I imagined her in my mind as Percy concentrated hard on the image I projected.

"I have never seen her. No girls come into my cabin except you." Percy said, "I've seen the stuff but I assumed it belonged to you. In fact, hardly anyone comes into my cabin except you and Nico."

I huffed, "Do you think I own a shitty pair of purple glasses?"

 **Uhhh…maybe? I dunno. I…to be honest I have a confession too.**

I waited, but it seemed like Percy was also having trouble vocalizing his problems.

 **I've been blacking out and waking up in random places and I have no idea how I got there. Like this morning, I have no recollection of how we got to breakfast. In fact, there are huge gaps in my memory and I don't know why. That's why I was angry that you were being rude to me. You're the only person I can trust to help me fill my memories with the truth.**

"Oh my gods, why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

 **I didn't want to tell anyone what was happening to me because…I feel a lot of pressure after saving Olympus. I'm supposed to be this great hero, who was even offered a place among the gods yet I can't remember how I got to lunch? It's…embarrassing. Also, you didn't tell me about your nightmares!**

 _Umm…true. This is what happened this morning._ I very carefully edited how I felt and projected my memory of the sticky crap and the harpy – I mean _girl_ clinging onto his bare chest.

Percy jumped, "Whoa. Is there a connection here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well after being nearly killed, stabbed, broken, mutilated, hunted, and tortured since coming to Camp Half-Blood," he began drily, "I've learned there is no such thing as a coincidence. I've been blacking out. You have had nightmares. There's this girl who apparently has no trouble feeling me up and I can't remember her at all." **Because if there was a girl all up on me, I would remember. Especially if it was –**

"Sowhatdoyouthinkofmytheory?" he said quickly, "Make sense?" I was momentarily distracted by trying to decipher his last thought until I realized he was looking at me.

"Hmm. Maybe you're right. I didn't think of that." I said thoughtfully, "I guess now I can share memories with you and you'll know what's happening. Because they won't be your memories, they'll be mine."

He smiled that brilliant – FUGLY AND CROOKED – smile at me. **Thanks Wise Girl.** Feelings of happiness and friendship were rolling off of him in waves and it made me smile too.

"So now are you going to let me kick your ass?" I grinned, assuming a fighting stance.

He rolled his eyes, "Like you can beat _me._ "

We began circling each other, looking for a weak spot. **Smaller. Right handed. Her tell? She takes a deep breath.** I didn't even know that.

I took a deep breath and Percy lunged forward to block a thrust that wasn't coming because I knew he thought he knew what I was going to do. Instead I took a short step back which threw him off balance and as he tipped a bit forward, I struck.

Not fast enough. He parried my blow and pivoted to my left side.

"Nice try." He smirked, "But it's going to take a lot more than that."

I decided to attack. I swung my sword forward, wincing as Percy brought Riptide down hard. I held my hilt as long as I could, even placing both hands on it but I was barely able to hold Percy back. Sweat dripped into my eyes as I slide my sword down, pulling out and retreating. I was panting hard and he looked like he wasn't even trying. When did he get so strong?

He looked smug. Not only did he look smug, but he was radiating confidence and pride in himself. Ugh, gross.

 **Time to finish this.**

Percy went on the offense, railing blows hard upon me which I was barely able to fend off. Our swords clashed as he pushed me further and further back until I couldn't move any further. He was about to bring the finishing blow down upon me and I winced closing my eyes and turning my head away.

The blow never came. **I can't. Not her.**

I slowly turned my head back and opened one eye.

"I won. Lunch?" he said turning away, "Let's go."

I watched him walk away in confusion. _Percy?_

 **….what?**

 _You know you're allowed to beat me at some things fair and square, right?_

 **I know…I just didn't want to. Hurry up.**

I ran after him, falling silently in stride with him. His thoughts were guarded and there wasn't a lot slipping through the cracks. I was about to tease him about being a softie when I heard a voice call out, "Oooo-ooh Perrr-cyy!"

I looked up to see Jen and I felt Percy's mind go blank.

What was going on?

 **A/N: ohmygods, what's happening? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**One. Finally finished finals!**

 **Two. Finally read all 5 PJO books! Also LOL I JUST REALIZED HOW YOUNG NICO IS IN THE PJO BOOKS? I feel embarrassed about my old thalico stories…also how did I forget thalia became a hunter? Basically please don't read any of my old stories, they kind of suck, and I get the feeling I might just delete them all**

 **Three. Realized my tumblr URL didn't show. It's "not-quirky-lol". Please message me if you follow me!**

 **Four. Please review**

 _Italics is Annabeth,_ _ **bold is Percy.**_

"Percy!" that harpy, I mean, _Jen_ said, "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh really? I'm right here." Percy said dreamily, looking dazed. I listened for his thoughts but his mind was empty.

She beamed at him, "So are you ready partner?" Hold up. Partner? Surely she couldn't mean –

"Yeah, I know we'll definitely win!" he said happily, "We'll own this race!"

"Um, _excuse me?_ " I snarled, " _I'm_ your partner!"

He looked at me confusedly, "No, Annabeth, you told me that you were partnering with Nico. You said that you almost always die when you're with me and you hate it." He looked sad.

"I never said that!" I protested, "And I can prove it to you." I pushed my memory of us deciding to be partners into his mind.

 _-FLASHBACK-_

The Titan War was over and the world had been saved. It was the end of summer and I was waiting for Percy by the lake. So much had happened between us and it was driving me crazy keeping how I felt inside.

He popped up to the surface and grinned at me. My heart melted a little. He had gotten stronger and more muscular from the war. He no longer resembled that scrawny scrap of a boy he had been when he got here. Now he was a man. He was admired by the gods, the demigods, and basically anyone you knew. The amount of attention he was getting was ridiculous and getting out of hand. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

He came up to land and it was hard not getting sucked into his eyes. I used to make fun of girls who admired eyes but his were intoxicatingly warm and I hated myself for every moment I bathed in them.

"Man it was hard to get out of there." He said, "The naiads have become a lot nicer to me. Not sure why."

"Maybe it's because you're a big hero now." I said sarcastically. We sat down on the dock, our feet in the water.

He smirked at me, "Well, I was the Chosen One." I rolled my eyes at him.

"It could have been any of the Big Three's kid. You just were the closest to being sixteen."

He sobered up, "I know, it feels strange. I still can't believe it was me and I still don't know how to react to it, you know? And we've lost so many friends along the way. None of my feelings seem right. Should I be sad? Proud? Angry?" He stared into the water.

"It's okay." I said gently, "You did the best you could and you saved us all."

I put a hand on his shoulder and he deflated even more.

"If only I could have saved them." He said softly, his voice almost a whisper, "I can't sleep because of the nightmares I have."

"I know how you feel." I said sadly, "I have them too. I see his face all the time."

"Luke?" he asked. I nodded, feeling the tears well up in my eyes.

"He died a hero." Percy said firmly, "I know that I stopped believing in him for some time, but you never did."

He turned towards me and placed his hands on my face, wiping away my tears. When they finally stopped he didn't move his hands. Instead we locked eyes and I could see the little flecks of gold in his. We both started leaning closer when –

"Umwannabemypartner?" he asked springing back, dropping his hands like my face was covered in boils.

"What?" I asked, startled.

"For the Cross Country Competition? It's next summer. I can't think of anyone else to be my partner." He was still talking really fast.

"Um yeah sure." I said. I felt really confused. Weren't we just about to…to…

"Awesome, see you later!" he smiled and bolted out of there.

What in the Hades just happened?

 _-FLASHBACK ENDS-_

Percy rubbed his eyes and suddenly I heard the buzz of his mind. **Yes, you're right. You are my partner.**

 _Can you see her? Jen. She's standing right in front of you._

 **This small brown haired girl?**

 _Yeah, just pretend you know her. Because she thinks you guys are kind of a thing._

 **Oh…err okay.**

He patted her shoulder gently, "I picked Annabeth to be my partner already. I'm sorry if I promised you otherwise. I might have not been paying attention to what you were saying."

Jen gave him some real big brown eyes, "Could I be part of your team? It's not against the rules to have more than two people."

"No way." I said, "We don't roll like that."

"I'll be your partner." A voice rang out from behind her, "I don't have one."

I looked around to see who it was. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and the most angsty teenager I'd ever met.

Jen looked disappointed but nodded, "Okay, I guess."

He walked up to us and scowled. He was wearing black ripped jeans, a huge leather jacket, and some angry looking t-shirt. **He looks like he finally got some rest.** _Agreed._

He smirked at Percy, "It's time for another Big Three kid to win." _Actually it's time for a non-Big Three kid to get the glory._

 **Why, jealous, Chase?**

 _Ugh I hate you._

Percy smiled and clapped him on the back, "Challenge accepted."

"Do you want to spar?" Nico asked, almost hopefully, "I've gotten a lot stronger."

"Yeah sure!" he ruffled Nico's hair, "See you later Annabeth." They walked off and Nico actually seemed a little happier.

That left me alone with Jen who didn't look so friendly anymore.

"Watch your back, Annabeth Chase."

I looked at her suspiciously. She smiled evilly. Then she turned around and left me with a sense of foreboding.

I had a lot to think about, namely, it seemed like pushing that memory into Percy's mind had awoken him. Which reminds me of something I had forgotten. After Percy had broken our not-kiss and ran off, something else had happened.

 _-FLASHBACK-_

I was staring angrily at the water. I can't believe we had almost kissed… _again!_

First there was that impulsive kiss I had given him at Mount Saint Helens when I thought he was going to die. And then he didn't. I'll admit it wasn't my first kiss because…well…okay I had been thinking about kissing him for a really long time and I didn't want my first kiss with Percy to be bad. Athena always has a plan.

And then he went and got _stranded_ with _Calypso_. Now I don't have anything against her personally but she's a beautiful immortal being and at the time I was like what? 14? 15? Forgive me for being pissed and maybe even insecure. I mean I had a lot of acne at that time and I was still growing and it was generally just an uncomfortable time for me.

I was hoping maybe things would change when he asked for a kiss of good luck before he battled the Minotaur again. But, _no_ , I had been distracted about Luke and I don't know I was confused about what I felt and I should give kissed him. But I didn't and I still regret it.

Then there was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Geez. I used to hate her because I thought she was going to steal Percy from me, and you know what? I could see that she was a great person. She was mortal, understanding, easy going, artsy and so different from me. The perfect person for a demigod especially one as troubled and powerful as Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Also, Apollo only choses _beautiful_ maidens to be his Oracle so you could see where I was coming from. Luckily, Apollo knocked her out of the ring, and I'm not going to lie - that night I offered an extra slice of pizza to him. So what? I can be petty and I'm always strategizing. It makes having a crush annoying especially when you can't stop analyzing and reading into everything his big, fat, stupid head does.

I heard a giggle from behind me. I whirled around to see a beautiful brunette filing her nails.

"Lady Aphrodite." I said warily, not sure why she was gracing me with her presence.

"Ahh, yes! Annabeth. My favorite daughter of Athena." She exclaimed, putting her nail file away, "Just the demigod I wanted to see."

"Um…do you need me for something?" I asked cautiously. Aphrodite, though not taken very seriously, was very dangerous. I was stuck in a one sided crush and it affected me so much that I could see how her powers could drive someone mad.

"Hmm. We haven't had a good love story in sooo long." She said poutily, "Your modern society is so anti-love. It's depressing. All these lovers in the world not being able to be together because of who your world leaders think should be together. It was much better in the old days."

"Okay?" I still didn't know what she was alluding to.

"I decided that _you_ and Percy will be the next big love story!" she exclaimed happily, "Won't that be so fun?"

I don't think I've ever blushed so hard in my entire life, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're so silly!" she giggled, "Friends from childhood, fighting together monsters like brothers-in-war. And then, suddenly! Everything changes. You realize how handsome and dashing – "

" - more like dumb and annoying – " I grumbled.

" – young Perseus is and before you can make a move, _gasp!_ In comes a slew of beautiful men and women to distract him. Me, the most beautiful of course but he's too young for me."

"I would hope so." I muttered but she didn't seem to be listening. She was on a roll.

"Then you kiss! And you think everything will change, but _it doesn't._ Things go on as usual and it eats you up inside! You wonder how, and my dear you're a child of Athena you can be just as vain as one of my children, he can't see how amazing you are. You wonder how he can't see how you're more intelligent than anyone he knows, how you've always had his back, how you've taken knives for him, how you would _die for him!_ " I fell silent. It was uncomfortable how her monologue had hit close to home.

"And then there's the whole forbidden love thing with your mother and his father being rivals." She practically sang, "Almost as good as my daughter Juliet's fate."

"They were real?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, duh!" she said happily, "And of course I couldn't just let Percy kiss you back then! No, it has to be delicious, and agonizing and if I'm seeing clearly there are a few others who love him just as dearly."

Wait, what? Someone else actually liked and tolerated Seaweed Brain? Also, she stopped our kiss? I was getting pissed. But I didn't want her to know that.

"Of course! I need some more angst dear, and I'm not just feeling it out of you. Others are crushing you in that department though." she said, reading my thoughts anyways, "A handsome hero attracts many admirers, especially when he's the greatest hero of the millennium. And those dreamy green eyes!"

I sputtered not knowing what to say. She smiled at me, "Don't try to make any moves before the time is right or you'll ruin my plan!" Then I averted my eyes as she poofed off.

 _-END FLASHBACK-_

I started to head back to my cabin to prepare some plans for the race. I wonder if this mind reading thing was all part of her plan. I literally did not remember that memory until now and it sure explained a lot. See I had moved to New York to attend a boarding school and hung out with Percy and Rachel a lot. My feelings towards Rachel had cooled a lot though and she was pretty fun to hang out with. Especially with the Oracle-no-dating rule. But every time Percy and I were having a "moment" something would happen and it would be broken up.

One time I had even grabbed his face and went in for the kill. Bad idea. A swarm of doves and swans had come out of nowhere and almost knocked me into traffic. After that I had stopped trying. All those almost memories flooded into my mind and I realized Aphrodite had been interfering for longer than just today.

I glared at the sky and wondered what I had done to attract the attention of Aphrodite. I briefly wondered that if she had the power to hide my memories then she might be the one taking chunks of Percy's as well. I reached my cabin and was about to enter when a swarm of spiders and tarantulas fell on me. I did what any intelligent, cunning child of Athena would do.

I screamed and fainted.

 **A/n: hmm…what's going on? Please review!**


End file.
